I sent an email to him
Telling him
That he not only rented space in my brain,
He owned it,
And he did.

The way I am today
Is all due to Bruce.
My calm,
My ability to act and just be
Is all on him.

He would be embarrassed,
At all this gushing
About him.
But I'm not.
I know what he did for me
And I am eternally grateful.

He saw my bad habits,
My restlessness,
My insomnia,
My bad judgements
About myself,
All that.

A mantle in the sea
many contestants see
something sweeter
something smoother
somehow sour
sometimes bitter
everyone wants it
it's very toxic
so intoxicating,
power.

we all like it's taste
we call it luxury
some call comfort
yes, it's a heaven
it's a paradise
a place for champions
a staff to control
a maze of honor,
power.

We’ll begin at the top -
send someone to the loft
to shed light on what’s dark and spooky,
seek out the machines
that have captured our dreams
and other instruments of cruelty.
Let’s excise and expose
what lies under clothes
and strip the whole joint naked,
so that nothing’s intact,
let’s be ruthless, in fact,
and if it ain’t broke then break it.

No more missiles' bang
To fracture fragile peace?

No more humming drones
To keep the warning on?

No more bombs and bullets
To shatter the worn-out bodies
That war leaves behind?

No more bodies
To be burnt alive?

No more tents to shiver
At the freeze of the night?

No more?
No more!!

Has war's nightmare truly diminished?
Has freedom finally found its way?
Please then, tell the world
I have survived
Once again.

As I have known you in this life,
those wondrous days,
these lonely nights,

when winter winds hold my head low,
and promises, forgotten, go
down some cold lane of once-upon-a-time,

I feel the grief, though still sublime
are thoughts of you, now treasured deep
within my silenced soul, I keep

your kiss, your warmth, your voice unheard,
though I remember every word,
and in this fragile memory, there I weep.

Driving through the summer months was a pastime we both enjoyed
I kept the window down to feel the heat
It’s easier to muse when the trees are whipping past
"If you squint it's like a slow-motion movie"
An ambient soundscape guides my thoughts
these feelings are more important when I rest my head on the window

The robin that often visits,
Or the angel that you see.
Each a poignant reminder,
Of the ones that used to be.

Like traditions that were cozy,
Or those values that seem lost.
Such memories are priceless,
They come without a cost.

In the flutter of a heartbeat,
Great emotions flood the mind.
More than pure addictions,
In connections that bind.

And when humanity's chaos,
Turns all sense of reason around.
It's often words of wisdom,
That stop us running aground.

Oh, My Love.
You've gone astray
traveled far
and lost sight of me.

Blinded by anger
and guilt
unable to find your way
in the darkness of your mind

The distance you've put between us
feels too far to come back from
but when the fog clears
and you want to come home to my love

just look back...
I'll leave the porch light on for you.

and ratchet up global warming
like bubbling vegetable stew
with tsk... tsk... heard
courtesy Greta Thunberg,
who would utter "how dare you..."

Most people call it a junk drawer.
I call it a time capsule.
There’s the final grade card
from Johnny’s kindergarten year.
I was so proud of All the Os.,
he’s thirty now, and he has a wife
and children I adore.
it’s a glimpse into the past.